25. GMG Search Engine Optimisation

Revenue: Over $1.8 million
Growth: 93.71%
Founders: Nick Grinberg, 27, and John Vlasakakis, 26
Head Office: Victoria
Year Founded: 2010
Employees: 8
Industry: Internet
Website: www.gmgseo.com.au

Nick Grinberg admits he and business partner John Vlasakakis took a gamble when they launched their search engine optimisation business GMG in 2010.

The SEO sector was, and still is, a crowded space so the duo introduced a “don’t pay until results are achieved” approach, which was unheard of in the local industry at that point.

While a few clients didn’t pay up, Grinberg told SmartCompany, for the majority of clients the approach worked.

“It allowed us a very aggressive entry into the marketplace,” he says. “It definitely put the high beams on us.”

GMG Search Optimisation has since moved away from that approach, but the company’s ability to put its work where its mouth is remains.

The company has doubled its workforce in the past 12 months and turned over more than $1.8 million in the 2013-14 financial year. Since 2010, the company has grown by 93.71%, securing it the 26th place on this year’s Smart50 list.

The growth has no doubt been driven by GMG’s expansion beyond SEO to areas including digital marketing strategy, market research, social media, website design and development and media buying.

Grinberg says GMG was “pretty happy being a search agency” but existing customers began to ask for help with other parts of their business.

“We were almost bullied into doing design work,” laughs Grinberg. “They said ‘you are all over our analytics, please build us a site too’.”

The diversification of the agency has led to a rebrand for GMG, which Grinberg says will likely be wrapped by the end of the year. As well as the GMG SEO business, there will be standalone GMG Digital services and GMG Web services.

It means the GMG team will have a busy few months ahead of them, but Grinberg says the business thrives on fast pace of change in its industry.

“It’s not difficult if you absolutely love what you do,” he says, when asked about the pressure to stay on top of ever-changing software algorithms and industry standards.

“Reading blogs and debating the latest updates is part of our lifeblood. It’s why we exist. We relish our work being tested against the latest algorithmic updates.”